We report the fabrication of a nanoelectromechanical system consisting of a plate rotating around a multiwalled nanotube bearing. The motion is possible thanks to the low intershell friction. Indeed, the nanotube has been engineered so that the sliding happens between different shells. The plate rotation is activated electrostatically with stator electrodes. The static friction force is estimated at $\approx 2\cdot10^{-15}$ N/\AA$^2$.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

We report on the intershell electron transport in multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs). To do this, local and nonlocal four-point measurements are used to study the current path through the different shells of a MWNT. For short electrode separations less, similar 1 mum the current mainly flows through the two outer shells, described by a resistive transmission line with an intershell conductance per length of approximately (10 kOmega)(-1)/microm. The intershell transport is tunnel type and the transmission is consistent with the estimate based on the overlap between pi orbitals of neighboring shells.

We have studied the high-bias transport properties of the different shells that constitute a multiwalled carbon nanotube. The current is shown to be reduced as the shell diameter is decreased or the length is increased. We assign this geometrical dependence to the competition between the electron-phonon scattering process and Zener tunneling.

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